Tongues of Fire Ft. Elise Pallagi

Tongues of Fire is our twice-monthly spoken word open mic. You’ll hear (up to) 5-minute sets from 12 local performers, plus a 25-minute set from our featured poet. Sign-up opens at 7:30 pm (first come first served); show starts at 8 pm. Door admission is a $6-10 sliding scale (cash only), but nobody will be turned away for a lack of funds.

FEATURING: Elise Pallagi

Elise Pallagi is a slam poet, multi-disciplinary performance artist, and a member of both the Saskatoon Indigenous Poets Society and the Saskatoon Poetry Slam Team. Her writing and performance work focuses on her personal experiences and struggles as a transgender woman growing up and living in Treaty 6 territory in the Canadian prairies.

Elise is a sought after entertainer who has been a featured artist at many special events, such as The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, The Nutrien Fringe Festival, Regina’s Word Up, Tonight It’s Poetry, several Pride Festivals, and as both a performer and stage MC for The Ness Creek Music Festival. Her strong presence at Saskatoon poetry slam competitions, poetry readings, and community building public events has been receiving considerable positive reviews, fueling her fire to continue performing provincially and nationally.

Combining elements of Vaudeville and Burlesque with her love of roller derby, Star Trek, and defending human rights gives Elise’s style of writing and performance a unique resonance on any stage. Elise uses her voice to create space, aiming to empower others with marginalized voices to claim their space by speaking their own truths as well. Elise conveys emotional authenticity and relatability in her work that moves audiences, touches hearts, and changes minds.

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The Victoria Poetry Project respectfully recognizes that our series events take place on the traditional and unceded territory of the Lekwungen people, now known as the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations. We recognize the colonial violence that led to the creation of Victoria, and how that allows our organization to exist. We aim to always be cognizant of who is represented on our stages, and to do what we can to reach out to groups who aren’t.

SAFER SPACES:
We strive to make all of our spaces safe for people of all backgrounds and identities. Homophobia, misogyny, racism, transphobia, and any and all other kinds of discrimination will not be tolerated on stage or amongst our audience, and will be dealt with according to our Anti-Harassment Policy. If you’d like to know more, please reach out to to our Anti-Harassment Team (AHT) via email at vppgrievance@gmail.com. Our AHT (one of whom is an indigenous woman and one of whom identifies as a queer woman) will also be on-site and identified at the beginning of the show to talk to if anyone is experiencing harassment. If you don’t feel comfortable speaking to someone directly, please email our team – all emails are confidential.

ABOUT CAFFÈ FANTASTICO (Quadra Village location):
Caffè Fantastico is a beautiful all-ages cafe that serves hot beverages; beer, wine, and cider; and snacks (hummus! chicken skewers! fried chickpeas! tacos!). There are two non-gendered, single-stall washrooms. There are three stairs between the service area and the main seating area, but the main seating area can also be accessed from street level on Quadra St. If you are able to, please enter via the Kings St door.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns about this event and/or our venue. We aim to be inclusive and welcoming.